Is Rohit Sharma the best-ever opener in ODI history?
What's the story
Former India skipper Rohit Sharma scored a stunning century in the opening ODI against the West Indies in Guwahati. The former India skipper reached the milestone in just 72 balls, hitting 10 fours and six sixes in the process. This was his second hundred across three ODIs as the 39-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down. Here we dissect his record as an opener in ODI cricket.
Stats
Fourth-most runs as an opener in ODIs
Though Rohit made his ODI debut in 2007, he had a topsy-turvy run as a middle-order batter.
His fate changed after getting the opening slot in 2013.
In terms of stats, Rohit has scored 9,998 runs as an opener across 201 ODI innings.
Only India's Sachin Tendulkar (15,310), Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya (12,740), and West Indies's Chris Gayle (10,179) have scored more runs while opening in the format.
Comparison
Best average and second-best strike rate
As per Cricinfo, Rohit's average of 54.63 is the best for any opener with at least 3,500 ODI runs.
No other player even averages 50 on this list. The batter also has a fine strike rate in this regard (96.65).
While 33 of Rohit's 35 ODI tons have come as a designated opener, only Tendulkar (45) has more hundreds in the position.
In terms of 50-plus scores among openers, Rohit (82) is only behind Tendulkar (120) and Jayasuriya (94).
Feats
Most double-tons, 150-plus scores
Rohit owns the highest individual score in the ODI format, having made 264 versus Sri Lanka in 2014.
Overall, he boasts three ODI double-hundreds. Shubman Gill (2) is the only other batter with multiple such scores.
Rohit also happens to be the batter with the most 150-plus scores in ODI cricket (8).
Australia's David Warner is the only other batter with more than five such scores (7).
Sixes
Joint-most sixes in an innings as opener
Rohit recorded 16 sixes en route to his 209 against Australia in the 2013 Bengaluru game.
These are the joint-most-maximums by an opener in an ODI.
While the Indian batting ace smashed 33 fours during his record-breaking 264 against SL, no other batter has slammed even 27 boundaries in a match.
Conclusion
Mighty consistent and adaptable
Since the start 2013, opener Rohit has clocked 50-plus ODI averages in nine of the 10 calendar years, where he has batted at least five times (excluding 2026).
Coming to adaptability, Rohit averages a fine 48.7 as an opener in away (home of opposition) ODIs and an even better 59.22 in neutral venues.
Hence, Rohit is indeed the best-ever ODI opener, at least as per stats.